Iowa Deploys Criminal Justice Information Sharing Capabilities

DES MOINES, Iowa -- Iowa needed a way to integrate federal, state and local data for statewide data sharing. Information from the Iowa Department of Corrections could benefit local corrections facilities and law enforcement officers in the field.

The state has launched the initial phase of Kaleidoscope, a comprehensive criminal justice integration system. Kaleidoscope effectively integrates critical federal, state and local data, allowing it to be accessed over the communications infrastructure of the Iowa Department of Public Safety statewide network.

This accessibility provides valuable and timely information sharing regarding offenders who have been released into community-based supervision programs managed by the Iowa Department of Corrections, and those detained and/or released pending trial from the Polk County Sheriff's Detention facility. During routine traffic stops, law enforcement officers are notified of an individual's status as a probationer or person awaiting trial, while the system simultaneously notifies probation officers that one of his/her supervised offenders is either the subject of an inquiry or has been arrested.

The system from Datamaxx also offers automated scheduled reports that are sent to the Polk County Attorney's Office indicating any new arrests made by the Polk County Sheriff's Office.

With many educational organizations shifting their entire schedules to distance learning tools or full virtual environments indefinitely, never has the statement “we are all in this together” been more poignant.